Paulina Wojciechowska

I really wanted to like this book.(I seem to say that a lot--but really why would I start a book I didn't think I'd like?)
There’s something attractive to me about building with earth, and the cover photo of 2 children making mudpies is enchanting. This book is not well organized, with lots of repetition in the beginning. It improves and becomes more practical later, but I don’t end up w/a sense of what it takes to make an earthbag building, that is more than a simple cone, structurally sound. She makes copious use of examples of built homes, including one which she criticizes the project leaders of using concrete unnecessarily, thus adding to the expense of the project which was meant as housing for a poor community. She does provide details for several types of earthen floor finishes, which is nice and can be used in any house, and limewash recipes for weatherproofing (tho quoted from 1861 & doesn’t say if it’s been used lately)--& cautions that cement plasters will not move with the earthen walls as they expand/contract with the seasons. The only snow climate home (Wisconsin) uses earthbag infill in a timber frame home w/conventional concrete foundation. Reinforced concrete beams for wall plates.
The one paragraph I liked enough to make note of actually is a quote from another book ( Earthbag Building by Kaki Hunter & Doni Kiffmeyer, Moab UT) “We have adopted the FQSS stamp approval—Fun, Quick, Simple, and Solid. By following this criterion, we have made the ease of the construction process our priority. As long as the work is Fun and Simiple, it goes Quickly and the results are Solid. When the work becomes in any way awkward, FQSS deteriorates into Frustrating, Quarrelsome, Slow, and Stupid, prompting us to stop, change tactics, or blow the whole thing off and have lunch (returning refreshed often spontaneously restores FQSS approval).”… (mere)